Once each semester NJ transit is free for students, which means an el cheapo day in the great Manhattan for those willing to brave the cold. It's amazing how much you can pack into one day in the city.
1. The Cloisters: Obviously I had to go to the Cloisters. Marcy and Rachel and I rode the train in to the City, then took the subway way way uptown to this great museum. The building itself is parts of cloisters brought over from Europe, and it is full of great religious art, mostly medieval. If you've seen Keeping the Faith, this is where the filmed the scene where Anna and the Rabbi and his mom are walking around in a garden.
2. The NYC Public Library: Another obvious stop for me. I hadn't made it there yet in all my trips to the City, so after Rachel left us for her field ed church Marcy and I took a tour of the library. I didn't realize that it's actually an amazing research library with some really significant holdings, such as the first Gutenberg Bible to cross the Atlantic.
3. TV Show tapings: Tickets to tv show filmings are free, so we got on the stand by list at Letterman then ran down to The Colbert Report and waited there to get on stand by until an intern from The Daily Show with John Stewart came over and said they had extra tickets, so we went there. If you happened to watch on Wednesday night I was in the audience.
4. Cheap Diner Dinner: We managed to find cheap and tasty burgers on Broadway :)
5. Train home: If ever we are travelling together and I want to drink 3 cups of coffee minutes before an hour long train ride, just say no. I won't elaborate on the consequences.
Other than the day of galavanting, I've been spending this break working at Bonner and earning my keep. Meanwhile, Dave is at the Sundance Film Festival chillaxing with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Ricci. At least that's who he was in the same room as yesterday. But I did see Cornel West on the street the other day (he's a very famous philosopher), so it's almost the same really.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
See this!
Last night I went to see Blood Diamond. I can't adequately explain in a post how convicting and disturbing and important this movie is. You should all see it (except Bianca). It is very violent and hard to watch, but it is so well done.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Done!
I am officially half way through my seminary career. As of yesterday my finals were over. I make no claims or promises about how they went, but I'm done and that's enough for me. Spring classes start Jan. 29th, so I have a few days and next work to put in hours at work, vegetate, catch up with people, and frolic in NYC. Huzzah!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Sometimes PTS really burns my buttons!
Exhibit A: The Library
As of Friday at 9am it is officially finals week. We have papers and exams staggered throughout the week except for on Sunday and Monday (MLK Day), although I do actually have something due at 5 on Monday. Does the Library extend its hours during this stressful and work-heavy time? NO! They close at 5pm (really they start kicking people out at 4:45) on Friday and Saturday, don't open until 3pm on Sunday (come on, even the Pentecostals are out of church way before then), and are CLOSED on Monday for MLK Day. The best theological library in the Western world (literally!) and we can't access it during the most academically rigorous week of the term.
Exhibit B: Computer Services
Our network was down for scheduled maintenance for 5 hours today. Now granted it's Sunday, so 9-12 seems like a safe bet to shut down the Seminary network. But it is still finals week, and I was one of many who opted out of attending church this morning. To top it off, it is now 3:20 and the network just came back up, but I still can't access the PTS website, including the Library catalog, which I need now that the library is open. Come on people, we have inter-semester break in a week and noone will have any homework at all. You couldn't schedule your maintenance one week later?
Exhibit C: Dining Services
As of Friday after lunch the dining hall is closed until the first day of classes, January 29th. For this week we have to get our own food, which wouldn't be a huge deal except that eating out is really pricey in P-town, and the two little kitchens available for student use are hardly equipped for preparing a decent meal. Not to mention, the meal plan is a ridiculus rip-off anyway.
Exhibit D: The Systematic Theology Final
Suffice it to say that noone has any clue what is expected of us, and the stupid terms that we have to define and turn in can't be completed without referring to books from other classes because what the professors lectured on was not systematic theology. I've used my college textbook and notes for most of my preparation thus far. I've spent a lot of time whining with my classmates about this one, so I'll leave it at that.
Exhibit E: The Registrar's Final Paper system
We have been told to turn in final papers to the registrar's office at certain times. For some people this time is during another exam. For most people, we don't trust the registrar to get our papers to the professor, and the professors don't trust them either, so we are mostly circumventing that system and turning things in via e-mail or campus mail or sliding papers under doors to avoid the disaster that we all fear could come of the registrar being responsible for anything involving our academic success.
But they're Princeton and they've been here for 200 years and they pay for us to go here, so they can do whatever they want (insert sarcasm here).
As of Friday at 9am it is officially finals week. We have papers and exams staggered throughout the week except for on Sunday and Monday (MLK Day), although I do actually have something due at 5 on Monday. Does the Library extend its hours during this stressful and work-heavy time? NO! They close at 5pm (really they start kicking people out at 4:45) on Friday and Saturday, don't open until 3pm on Sunday (come on, even the Pentecostals are out of church way before then), and are CLOSED on Monday for MLK Day. The best theological library in the Western world (literally!) and we can't access it during the most academically rigorous week of the term.
Exhibit B: Computer Services
Our network was down for scheduled maintenance for 5 hours today. Now granted it's Sunday, so 9-12 seems like a safe bet to shut down the Seminary network. But it is still finals week, and I was one of many who opted out of attending church this morning. To top it off, it is now 3:20 and the network just came back up, but I still can't access the PTS website, including the Library catalog, which I need now that the library is open. Come on people, we have inter-semester break in a week and noone will have any homework at all. You couldn't schedule your maintenance one week later?
Exhibit C: Dining Services
As of Friday after lunch the dining hall is closed until the first day of classes, January 29th. For this week we have to get our own food, which wouldn't be a huge deal except that eating out is really pricey in P-town, and the two little kitchens available for student use are hardly equipped for preparing a decent meal. Not to mention, the meal plan is a ridiculus rip-off anyway.
Exhibit D: The Systematic Theology Final
Suffice it to say that noone has any clue what is expected of us, and the stupid terms that we have to define and turn in can't be completed without referring to books from other classes because what the professors lectured on was not systematic theology. I've used my college textbook and notes for most of my preparation thus far. I've spent a lot of time whining with my classmates about this one, so I'll leave it at that.
Exhibit E: The Registrar's Final Paper system
We have been told to turn in final papers to the registrar's office at certain times. For some people this time is during another exam. For most people, we don't trust the registrar to get our papers to the professor, and the professors don't trust them either, so we are mostly circumventing that system and turning things in via e-mail or campus mail or sliding papers under doors to avoid the disaster that we all fear could come of the registrar being responsible for anything involving our academic success.
But they're Princeton and they've been here for 200 years and they pay for us to go here, so they can do whatever they want (insert sarcasm here).
Friday, January 12, 2007
Where has the time gone?
It's mostly gone into spending time in the Springs with Claire and Dave :) I love those crazy kids. We didn't do anything extraordinary, just lived like normal as a little family of three for the week, drinking tea and watching movies and running errands. We searched for dancing shoes for Dave, did six large loads of laundry, cooked a lot, took advantage of Dave being at work to eat foods he can't have, and had an altogether pleasant time together. One thing will never be the same though . . .
that's right, I got a tattoo! It's the Hebrew root pronounced arash and it means "betroth." It's the word used in Hosea 2:19 ("I will betroth you to me forever, says the Lord.") I chose it because it represents God's covenant with me in Christ, and it's on my ring finger because whether I marry or not Christ is my first love and my primary commitment, and is more committed to me than a husband can be. (Don't worry, I didn't do this on a whim. I've wanted a tattoo for about 5 years and this particular design for quite a while. The tattoist, Doc, is a pretty rad guy, and it was much less painful than I thought it would be.)
I got back to P-town yesterday afternoon, quickly read and planned for the class I teach at church, taught the class, then worked into the week hour of the morning on my Job paper that was due this morning at 10am. That paper is out of the way now and it is officially finals week. That hasn't really hit me yet. I'm sure I have a ton to do, but for now I need to clean my wretched mess of a room.
And not that he ever reads this, what with the lack to internet at home and all, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!
that's right, I got a tattoo! It's the Hebrew root pronounced arash and it means "betroth." It's the word used in Hosea 2:19 ("I will betroth you to me forever, says the Lord.") I chose it because it represents God's covenant with me in Christ, and it's on my ring finger because whether I marry or not Christ is my first love and my primary commitment, and is more committed to me than a husband can be. (Don't worry, I didn't do this on a whim. I've wanted a tattoo for about 5 years and this particular design for quite a while. The tattoist, Doc, is a pretty rad guy, and it was much less painful than I thought it would be.)
I got back to P-town yesterday afternoon, quickly read and planned for the class I teach at church, taught the class, then worked into the week hour of the morning on my Job paper that was due this morning at 10am. That paper is out of the way now and it is officially finals week. That hasn't really hit me yet. I'm sure I have a ton to do, but for now I need to clean my wretched mess of a room.
And not that he ever reads this, what with the lack to internet at home and all, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!
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